How My Uterus Is Exposing Social and Medical Inequalities in Women’s Healthcare
- Brainz Magazine
- Sep 18
- 4 min read
Terri-Lynn Langdon is a well-known therapist in the areas of mental health, youth issues, violence against women, maternal health, disability, and social justice. Her trauma-informed skills, mindful ways of working, and empowering others to create the best health possible while living in authenticity are strengths in her practice.
As a healthcare advocate, I really desire to dismantle healthcare barriers wherever and whenever they arise. At the end of July, I once again experienced structural healthcare barriers related to sexism and ableism when I learned I would not be able to get a hysterosonogram that week as planned. A hysterosonogram is a special type of ultrasound that uses sterile saline to achieve enhanced images of the endometrium, allowing for more accurate diagnosis of the uterus. When I arrived for this pre-scheduled exam, in which the imaging team knew that I was a wheelchair user, a quick survey of all the treatment rooms in this fancy downtown Bay Street clinic revealed that I would not be able to transfer onto any of the exam tables.
There was also a striking double-entendre at this particular clinic. There were wheelchair-accessible bathrooms and wheelchair-accessible decals on the carpet informing disabled people where to sit. Since my physical disabilities stem from childhood disability, I have been around long enough to know that if there is a wheelchair sign on a clinic floor informing disabled people where to sit, this is not access. These are decals that tell disabled people where to go, and where not to go, so that we can or will stay out of the way of able-bodied people, catering to the use of space to folks that appear and move in able-bodied ways. Wheelchair decals on medical room floors are often a sign of covert ableism.
The staff at the front desk made a quick call to a supervisor of the imaging company. This call confirmed that out of the 22 locations within the GTA, not a single location had an adjustable exam table. The staff at the front desk then said that in this case, “we would refer to a hospital.” As it turns out, hysteroscopies are not tests that many hospitals perform at all. I went to and called my nearest hospitals to check about using the same requisition at a hospital, and only after lots of calling around did I learn that Women’s College Hospital has sonographers for this specific test and some access features in their imaging departments. After speaking with them three times, my test was booked for the end of September. Yes, you heard that right, I said the end of September!
The time I had to dedicate to finding care on my own is also something that represents a huge disparity, and these tasks can either harm my health and well-being. I am disabled, and it can take me more time to complete tasks as a result. This is sometimes termed crip-time. I am a sole parent with two young children, trying to complete a PhD and do meaningful work in a counselling and case management capacity. I did not have time to look around for a hysterosonogram, and yet I had no choice but to do so.
Had I been able to transfer onto a really high standardized medical table, I would have had my test completed and results by the first week of August at the latest. However, because of the lack of access to accessible equipment,[1] my imaging, diagnosis, and treatment are all significantly delayed, because the disabled body is often dismissed in the medical structures that exist. These delays in care represent significant health disparities and outcomes for disabled women.[2] Persons with disabilities are far more likely to report unmet healthcare needs.[3] Furthermore, a lack of commitment to research, funding, and imaging for women’s health is so limited due to sexism in research, funding for women’s health, and healthcare budgets across the land.
As for now, my uterus and I are waiting for care. I do think there are things that need to happen across healthcare systems so that everyone else can have an easier time. These things include:
More dedicated funding for women’s health and women’s imaging studies.
Universal design and accessibility are built into every healthcare facility’s existing budget line.
Targeted access and screening programs for disabled women to help prevent delays in care.
For healthcare providers everywhere, please do two things:
Ask your patients, “What do you need, including accommodations, to fully participate in your own healthcare?”
Don’t be dismissive. Dismissiveness is a microaggression that can cause great harm in healthcare environments, since these actions create doubt in patients seeking care and connection. The result can be patients not seeking care in the future for healthcare concerns, and it can generate more healthcare anxiety and medical trauma for those affected.
Terri-Lynn Langdon, Social Worker & Health Equity Researcher
Terri-Lynn Langdon is a feminist, disability studies, and health equity scholar in Social Justice Education at The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. She is a candidate with the Collaborative Specialization in Women's Health, and the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, as well as a research fellow with the School of Cities, University of Toronto. She has over 14 years of experience in the Social work field. Terri-Lynn is passionate about helping people to achieve the best possible health and a meaning-making life. She is the mother of 2 young children
References:
[1] Martin and Williamson et al., 2021
[2] Gibson & Mykitiuk, 2011
[3] McColl, 2010; Reichard et al., 2017
